Family Man
by Biigoh
Summary: Go home and be a family man, Danny Hebert, you've earned some happiness. Now, if only your daughter isn't suffering from your decisions, because being a Hebert is suffering.
1. Chapter 1

So, I've been doing a QUEST on and off on Questionable Questing, Spacebattles and Sufficient Velocity by the name of "Family Man". You can google "Family Man Worm Quest biigoh" to find one of the threads with it.

The story in and of itself is simple enough. Being about the adventures of Danny Hebert in AU land. :3

This is the _**archive** _and as such... no votes will be listed. Just the results. The previous version got removed by FFnet because it got reported as an interactive story, which it's not.

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* * *

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You were always an angry man, your emotions run rampant. This was a thing you inherited from your father, a dock worker. In time, you followed your father's footsteps and became a dock worker.

You rose in seniority, and while you didn't end up in management, you did end up running the dock worker union.

Life was exciting for you. Yours was the generation where Scion appeared, where humans gained power and became parahuman.

Still, eventually, you settled down dated this girl who was a hellion and who was a minion for a villainess with a cause. The two of you married, you got a lovely daughter that you're still not sure what to do with...

And then... things went wrong.

The Endbringers ruined the global economy bit by bit and you struggled to keep your workers employed, even if it required doing unsavory things like getting jobs as hired muscle for capes and so on.

There were other things that happened... such as Annette wanting Taylor to follow in her footsteps, to go to Arcadia as she had instead of good old Winslow like you had.

That argument saw her leave the house and... end up in an accident.

Leaving you with Taylor, your daughter.

Still, you tried your best to look after her... but things kept spiraling out of your control...

You're still not sure how it happened, but... **you're dating this korean girl that you met, she reminds you of Annette when she was younger...**

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* * *

**Family Man**

**Worm AU**

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**Note** : For those who are curious~

The choices given were Bakuda, Squealer, Canary, Mouse Protector

There were write-ins and votes for in the forum... Night, Faultline, Simurgh, Kay Kay Kayden aka Purity, Former Accord Employee, Contessa, and Armsmaster...


	2. Chapter 2

**[X] You're dating this korean girl that you met, she reminds you of Annette when she was younger...**

You were currently preparing for your date with Grace.

Taylor doesn't approve of this "foreigner" that you're currently seeing. Never mind that Grace was a lovely and interesting woman, or that she was born in Idaho and thus definitely not a "foreigner hussy" as Taylor keeps calling Grace when she wasn't around.

Okay, perhaps it was just Taylor being resentful of Grace and seeing her as your attempt to replace Annette.

Not that you were.

Rather, Grace reminded you so much of Annette when the two of you had gotten to talking. Passionate, smart... and so very fierce. But that was kind of normal for the circles that Annette used to run in.

That you used to run in.

Or rather, the circles that the Atomic Skull used to run in.

But that was then, and you got out while you could. You weren't growing younger and being a cape was a young man's lot. Not a middle aged man with a kid.

Thankfully, your reputation was still enough that when you saved Grace from those ABB hooligans and their leader, that they backed off. After all, no one liked being hit with enough radioactive energy to flashfry them. And it was a thread that you would have backed, and given that you were in your glowing energy form, complete with incandescent skeleton... they knew that you would have done it. Two decades, and your cape name still holds weight.

You hadn't kept up with the cape scene since your retirement, which was why you hadn't know who Grace had been, only that she was a "new" cape. And one being chased by those gangsters.

But that was then, and this was now.

Now, you were struggling with your tie and preparing for a date with Grace.


	3. Chapter 3

**[X] It's dinner at her place, hopefully she hasn't forgotten about it while working on her... toys.**  
Event Roll 1d100=77

It's been over a month since you first met Grace, and really you've found yourself enjoying her company.

Enough that you've invited her to dinner at your home, or had lunch with her at your day job as the Dockworkers Union spokesperson and the head of hiring for the Dockworkers association.

Thus, you were surprised when Grace invited you to dinner... at her place.

You've known Tinkers in the past though, and can only hope that she hasn't forgotten about dinner while distracted by work on her toys. Or worse, gotten the dinner incorporated into her project.

You had made sure to bring home take-out for Taylor from the burger restaurant that she's declared had the best burgers. You would have gotten her chinese, but she hasn't liked "foreign" food lately and has defaulted to pasta, burgers or pizza when you asked her if she wanted take out or delivery.

Still, with things all set up, you left the house in good spirits while Taylor sulked and read the books she gotten from the library.

The drive to Grace's home was actually quiet.

o/~ _Yesterday,_  
_all my troubles seemed so far away_  
_Now it looks like they're here to stay~_  
_Oh, I believe in yesterday..._  
_Suddenly,_  
_I'm not half the man I used to be_  
_There's a shadow hanging over me._  
_Yesterday came suddenly._ o/~

The music that played on the radio called to a better yesterday, when things were better. But that was normal for Brockton Bay. Still, as you drove you hummed along to the songs that played.

Grace's home was a loft located in the area between the Boardwalk and the Docks. Which did made it easier for her to visit you.

As you parked in front of the warehouse that Grace had converted into her home, you're glad to see that there was no signs of smoke, fire, explosions or such that indicated a Tinker's project gone wrong.

In fact, as you knocked on the door, you can smell something delicious. It appeared that she hadn't forgotten the dinner. How delightful.

The door opened and Grace was standing there with a smile. She was shorter than you and dressed nicely in a turtleneck and slacks combo that suited her.

"Grace."

"Danny, come in, come in."

Surprisingly, the lower level of the warehouse was walled off, giving it the appearance of an house, while the rest of the floor was hidden from sight.

You are led upstairs by Grace.

It was the upstairs loft that makes it feel like you're in a home than a hidden base. The loft had a lived in feel, and was furnished accordingly. If you didn't know better, you could have sworn that Grace had been living here for years instead of just a few months.


	4. Chapter 4

**[X] Make small talk about dinner plans, how her day went... What sort of project she's been working on? Tinkers like when someone's interested in their work, right?**

You weren't unaware of how tinkers worked.

You've had contact with tinkers in the past, had employed tinkers even.

They had this thing, you know, where they would get focused on their toys, and of how they would show them all and so on.

For a moment, you're lost in your memories of Professor Psycho and the way she had laughed as she used her somatic devices to drive her victims mad with fear so that they would flee her or outright surrender without needing to fight.

As such, it was only common courtesy to ask how her day went, and of the current project she was working on. After all, tinkers liked it when someone was interested in their work or wanted to know more. It wasn't just the villainous tinkers, really... you knew that most capes had that moment after triggering... it's just with tinkers, that mania tended to stay with them.

As such, you find yourself smiling at her as you hand her the flowers you had gotten for her. "How has your day been?"

There was a replying smile from her as she placed the flowers in a glass bottle and filled it with water. "So, so... the project I've been working on isn't progressing as fast as I would like it to."

"Oh?"

She shrugged. "I'm good within my specialty, and it really does help that I was studying engineering before my trigger. But there's only so much I can do alone."

You had to nod at her statement. Because when it came down to it, there was only so much any single cape could do unless they had some kind of bullshit selection of powers, and even then... it was better to work in a team. This went double for a tinker, they could build bullshit technology, but without infrastructure, there was only so much they could do. Which was why Toybox, the Protectorate and the Guild were generally good for tinkers who wanted and needed the resources to hit the big time.

The conversation continued along the lines of how parts and materials were difficult to get, at least without rising red flags all over the place. Even the underground market could only do so much.

You nod politely now and then and make the normal sympathetic comments, because really it was an on-going issue that every single non-heroic or rogue cape had to experience.

Eventually, it led to you being shown the project she had been working on.


	5. Chapter 5

**[X] It's a power armor. Have dinner first before looking in-depth at her project.**

Dinner was nice and quiet, and she hadn't made anything too exotic in terms of food. After all, there was only so many ways to cook lamb, and roasting was in every single ethnic style of cooking.

Which was why you enjoyed the lamb roast with vegetables, and some wine on the side.

Quiet and peaceful.

You could get used to this, as you and Grace talked about various things. Such as the economy and the bad job that mayor Christner was doing in attracting new businesses, of the latest cape mercenaries who've moved in and out of Brockton Bay, or the parahumans that you heard were involved in how Madagascar closed its ports and airspace after the overthrow of its last parahuman generalissimo.

It was nice, having someone that you could talk things with.

You couldn't really talk about things like this with Taylor, she was after all just a school kid and it didn't look like she was going to trigger any time soon. At least, as far as you can tell, she hadn't joined any gangs either... which was a good thing.

Still, eventually, dinner ended and Grace took you down to her workshop.

Like any tinker workshop, the equipment here looked like it was an engineer's wet dream mixed with equipment that was taken out of a laboratory, and a mechanic workshop.

The center piece of the workshop was Grace's current heart and joy, the project that she had been working on since she had set up shop in Brockton Bay.

You had to admit that virtually all tinkers tended to have some sort of protective item or system that they build, be it force fields, power armor, vehicles, bunkers... they all build something to protect their squishy bodies. Some tended to build offensive weaponry, taking to the axiom of the best defense was a overwhelming offense.

That was the one true weak spot of any tinker; their squishy bodies were no different from any other normal human. That was the weak point of any tinker, and thinker really. They had no actual powers that affected the physical world or body, all they had were their knowledge and equipment.

And really, given the way that Grace had been running from the ABB ruffians and their leader, it was something that she likely had come to accept, since she had admitted that she had used up her bombs to slow down and remove some of her pursuers.

Still, the specialty that Grace had meant that she would need to go for weaponry and offense over armors or vehicles or fortifications in terms of protections.

Which was why you were rather surprised to see what looked like a split open carapace; thick black rubbery or perhaps latex material over which metal components and silver white armor plates would fit.

"The heart of this suit really is a simple and elegant system of fusion nuclear accelerators that takes in air from the intake system, and..." Grace looked at you as she paused before shaking her head. "Well, I could go on about the acceleration of protons, the stripping of electrons, but I suspect that you know what's involved in that."

You had to nod sheepishly at her. "I did do some research into the physics of how my powers work."

"But yeah, the accelerator generates electricity that feeds into my capacitors, which goes back into powering the accelerators, as well as fueling the reactions in my thrusters," she pointed out the flight system and motion enhancers. "The defenses is two tier, and relies on caches of liquid crystals within the inner layer that when charged with electricity reacts to force with an equal amount of explosive counter-force and then 'noise cancels' it out. Also, armor plating which works as is, but I'm still working on the repulsor field effect generators for them."

You had to whistle at that, it appeared that the ABB fight that she had been in had given her... ideas and a certain appreciation of how it would be nice to be able to take hits.

"Weapon-wise... I've got an enhanced musculature system that uses micro explosive pulses to provide some decent Brute strength. I've got my knuckle bombs, basically shaped explosive caps on the knuckles for physical beat downs," Grace's firm nod held a certain look in her eyes. If it was possible, she likely would enjoy using them on Lung, it appeared. "And my primary weapon would be this."

'This' turned out to be a bulky cylinder not attached to her armor. "It's a nuclear pumped gamma ray laser. This is where I've run into a problem, in that it's overkill and I would need to have a flight system for each one and they would need to be disposed after each use."

Now you had to wince. "I can see how that would be overkill, especially if it's outside of an Endbringer fight or a fight with an S class threat."

"I know, right?" She nodded at you. "Which is why I'm going to have to stick with my bombs and bomb launcher for now until I can get something suitably long range."


	6. Chapter 6

**[X] Go out sight seeing with Grace? She HAD been stuck mostly in her workshop for the last few months.**  
Event/Date Roll 1d100=43  
Someone Else Get "Lucky" Roll 1d100=73

It doesn't take much to convince Grace to go out on a date with you, as she calls it... as opposed to you calling it a sight-seeing tour after her confinement in her workshop.

Her security system was simple and elegant. She simply walked out of her home and locked the door. There was no fancy security system being set up or anything. And yet, that smug smile from her hinted that the locking of the door was more a formality, that her workshop had far more defenses that were non-intrusive and didn't require being armed by her manually.

The keyword being manually. It's quite likely that she did have numerous layers of defenses much like you had seen in your time when you visited the workshops of various tinkers. It was more that she opted for something simple and elegant, and more importantly, didn't stand out.

That was something you found yourself liking about Grace, she liked to do things with style and elegance. Why use a defense system that was in someone's face when she could do something that was sophisticated and that no one would know was there until it was tripped.

And from what you knew of her specialty, it would be something nasty and terrifying. Which was a good thing as long as it wasn't you or Taylor being directly targeted.

Still, there was the little sight seeing tour about Brockton Bay.

The drive from her home and workshop had her making a face at your taste in music. Something you had to laugh at.

_o/~ Another one bites the dust_  
_Another one bites the dust_  
_And another one gone, and another one gone_  
_Another one bites the dust_  
_Hey, I'm gonna get you, too_  
_Another one bites the dust"o/~_

"Seriously, this is like old people music. I don't even want to know how ancient your music collection i... wait, you can't seriously be playing a best of queen tape," She turns to look at you in horror now as one queen song played after another. "You monster... you left a tape in your car for over a fortnight."

"Now you're just being silly," you replied with a smile at her. "It was always a best of queen tape. It's just THE definitive best of queen tape after staying in my car for the last few years. And really, what's wrong with Queen?"

She just looked at you flatly. "Nothing, it's just why... why would you want to have a Best of Queen tape?"

"Well, I do like Queen," you shrugged.

She shook her head. "I wouldn't have mind if it was something by Simon and Garfunkel, Nat King Cole or even the Beatles if it has to be something old."

It was clear that music was going to be a minor point of contention between the two of you as it had been since you started seeing each other.

_o/~ __**We're all living in America,**_  
_**America is wunderbar.**_  
_**We're all living in America,**_  
_**Amerika, Amerika.**_  
_**We're all living in America,**_  
_**Coca-Cola, Wonderbra,**_  
_**We're all living in America,**_  
_**Amerika, Amerika.**__ o/~_

It was while you were driving towards the Boardwalk that a beat-up car pulled up beside you, playing music loud enough and with sufficient bass that you can feel the vibration and it's clear that Grace can too.

You turned to look at the offending car with annoyance to see something that nearly gave you a heart attack.

Seated in the back was Taylor, your daughter, dressed in an outfit that showed far too much and which you certainly did NOT approve of. Worse, she was busy making out with a... a BOY you really did not approve of.

From the outfit, it was clear from his outfit and tattoos that THAT BOY belonged to one of the gangs, most likely the gang that belonged to that punk who inherited from Allfather.

You respected Allfather before he died, his successor... not so much.

There was a twitch as you caught sight of roaming hands. You REALLY did not approve. It took a moment for you to realize that Grace had placed her hand on yours that you might have started to transform with glowing eyes and such.

You struggled to control your breathing and to not transform.


	7. Chapter 7

**[X] You are beyond yelling. Beyond crude expressions. The flames your anger have solidified into plasma.**  
**-[X] Move over to them, put on a smile (doesn't matter what the rest of your face looks like, just make sure that you're smiling), look him dead in the eye, and ask him what exactly he plans to do with your precious and adorable and fifteen year old daughter.**  
**-[X] Memorize his car so you can nuke it anyway.**  
**-[X] Apologize to Grace for spoiling your date.**  
Event Dice Roll - 1d100=72  
Someone Else's Roll - 1d100=66

You grit your teeth and slowly counted to ten, but it didn't help... you burned hot inside. This was something that you had long ago acknowledged. You had a temper and worse, a power that fed into it and was fed by it far too easily.

You sigh out and closed you eyes before opening your eyes and followed the other car and its loud thumping bass. It took all of your willpower to avoid incinerating everyone and everything around you.

A sensible decision after all, Grace and Taylor were in close proximity and you certainly did not want to harm them.

"I'm sorry for ruining this date," You eventually said to Grace. "But it looks like I'll need to deal with some personal matters."

She smiled and shook her head. "In life, a little bit of rain is fine. I won't die from you having to deal with your wayward daughter."

Thankfully, it appeared that she was understanding.

As you step out of your car at a stop light to tap on the window, the intersection was deserted, your daughter, the little punk that she was doing things that you did NOT approve of, and the driver noticed you.

You were beyond anger. No, really you were. You were far beyond the hot white rage that you were familiar with. This was plasma to the normal flames of your normal anger.

You smile as you looked at the punk who DARED put his filthy grubby little hands on your precious daughter, who also had her hands on VERY INAPPROPRIATE PLACES on his body.

Before you can say a thing, you notice the driver look at you before looking in the rough direction of the backseat while keeping an eye on you. "Boss, want me to rough up the old man?"

The way he spoke, that slight twitch in his hands and flexing of muscles in his forearms that moved upwards. You were fairly certain that under his shirt that his muscles were flexing in preparation. You had seen similar muscle behavior before, it wasn't normal but it wasn't exactly,,, rare.

This was a Brute, with a capital B.

You would need to hit hard and fast if you wanted to maintain the upper hand, or at least shift to your 'combat form' to avoid being injured physically.

"Dad!" The glare from Taylor really was unwarranted.

"Boss?" "Taylor?" The way the two punks were looking at your daughter was odd and not quite what you expected. If you didn't know any better... you could swear that she was their boss. Which wasn't impossible... it just raised unfortunate questions.

"You really do take after your mother and me, don't you?" your words were soft and likely not heard by anyone else... but it was true, you had been running around with a gang in your youth and had taken over in due time. Annette had been an activist, which really meant that in those days she was an idealist dreamer who had joined a gang of fellow idealist who were willing to go pretty far for their ideals and dreams.


	8. Chapter 8

**[X] "I like to consider myself reasonable. I've been young, done reckless things, kept dangerous company." *stare pointedly at the driver*  
-[X] "Basically, I've been there. And I'm willing to consider that there's context that I'm missing. I'd really love to hear that context."  
-[X] "As it stands, as far as I can tell you're... Indulging in the company of a street level thug. I like to think my daughter is capable of, and deserves, better than that."**  
Event Roll 1d100=32

You stand tall and firm. A firm look on your face, filled with resolution, met the faces of the young punks that your daughter was cavorting with in a manner that was NOT PROPER and which you DID NOT APPROVE.

It was clear from the looks on their faces that they were aware of this fact, and were rallying to support your daughter, who was their... boss.

It was possible that you might have misread the situation, and she was not associated with that upstart Kaiser. Instead, she might have started a gang... and coerced a Brute into joining it.

Which made things a bit more difficult, and easier in a way.

You just needed to talk, not raise your voice. Just talk and not go NUCLEAR on those punks. Really, you could do this.

"I would like to consider myself reasonable, really I do," you eventually spoke up. "I've been there. I was young like you once, did some reckless things. Kept dangerous company."

You thought on the gang you once commanded, of the alliances that you had made and maintained, and you almost smiled... fondly. Best to keep that down and think of the old days later with a beer. Instead, you looked rather pointedly at the Brute who seemed conflictingly nervous, being partly socially conditioned to be wary of dads protecting their daughters and partly because he seemed to be itching for a fight.

"So yes, I've been there, done that, got the tee-shirt," You said as you crossed your arms. "Now, I'm willing to consider that there's context that I'm missing. I'd really love to hear that context."

Your precious Taylor just glares defiantly at you. One might almost call it rebelliously.

Dear god, was this what they meant by teen rebellion.

Was this what your mom had meant when she cursed you by saying that your children will be just like you when you walked out of your home that day after that rather bad argument with your parents. No, wait... magic wasn't real nor were curses.

Before you could lose track of what you were saying, you continued on. "As it stands, as far as I can tell you're... indulging in the company of a street level thug. I like to think my daughter is capable of, and deserves, better than that."

Taylor's glare INTENSIFIES. If she was a cape, her power didn't involve glare based super powers, which was a good thing given the way that cape powers could be inherited by people near the cape. Even you've heard about some of the dynasties being set up by capes of your generation, the most famous ones being Heartbreaker and the renamed Brockton Bay Brigade.

"Dad. Ma..." Taylor's word was almost hissed out before she turned to look at the young punk she had been doing INAPPROPRIATE THINGS with. "You are Matt, right?"

He nodded in response, and she continued on with a glare at you. "Matt is a perfectly fine guy and he is not just a street thug. He's MY street thug. Just like the Merchants are now MY gang."

"Oh boss," There was a slap from the Brute driver as he covered his face.

What?

Is your Taylor, your precious little girl, claiming membership in the Merchants? Or worse... claiming that she ran it now?!

It was only natural that the music from THAT CAR switched to something in english.

_**o/~ This ain't a song for the broken-hearted  
No silent prayer for the faith-departed  
I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd  
You're gonna hear my voice  
When I shout it out loud**_

**_It's my life. o/~_**


	9. Chapter 9

**[X]"You, you took over your first gang?", you start in disbelief before smiling. "I'm so proud of you! I knew you had it in you. Your mother always said we should raise you in peace but I knew you had that Hebert Knack. You have got to tell about this. Dinners on me."**  
Event roll - 1d100=7  
Danny - 1d100=62  
Someone Else - 1d100=53

"You, you took over your first gang?" You blink in disbelief before smiling. "I'm so proud of you! I knew you had it in you. Your mother always said we should raise you in peace but I knew you had that Hebert Knack. You have got to tell about this. Dinner is on me."

It really shouldn't surprise you that diplomacy was something that failed with startling frequency when it came down to you and your daughter. This was mainly because she took after you in a rather startling manner.

So much so that you shouldn't have been surprised that she would take over a gang instead of just joining it.

"God, dad. I can't believe how patronizing you are!" That shout from her, as near invisible arcs of electricity crawled across her face from her eyes was a good hint as to just what type of cape she was.

You had to tilt your head. "All I said was that I was proud of you and-"

"Yeah, right. Don't you pull that, I've had enough of that from you, and Emma and everyone else." Her interruption was... unwelcomed, and you found yourself looking displeased at her.

Given the way her eyes widened and the way her minions were backing up to get some space because being trapped in a car was never good against an unknown parahuman. You likely had lost some of your control and had started your transformation, and since there wasn't the sensation of mild itching on your skin, it likely was just your eyes glowing.

Taylor's eyes narrowed as electrity started to build up across her skin before she flared and burned, her flesh and clothes transforming into pure plasma constrained by what had to be an electromagnetic field if one were to go by the lightning that crawled over her body.

For your part, you didn't bother to do the flashy transformation... you had already gone nuclear beneath your skin, with only your eyes showing it by its emerald glow that was incandescent that it shifted to a green tinted white light.

It didn't take much for Taylor to burn her way out of the car, with the brute crying out in horror at his car being destroyed with a cry of 'my car!'.

The lunge at you from Taylor was easily side-stepped. You can see Grace had stepped out of your car and had put on a domino mask, as well as using some sort of device to protect herself with a blocky forcefield that smelled of ozone and buzzed with a constrained electrical charge.

It was clear from the look of surprise from Taylor that was quickly squashed that this might be a fight where no civilians were involved.

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**Parahuman File # 19880103-01  
Cape Identity : Atomic Skull [Inactive Villain]  
Civilian Name : Unknown  
Gender : Male  
Age : Adult  
Costume : A thin metal domino mask [composition: steel, silver, and cubic boron nitride alloy]  
Affiliation : Villain / Nuclear Dawn  
Classification : Brute 2, Breaker 8, Shaker 8, Blaster 8**  
The subject is the leader of the Nuclear Dawn gang [see _case file # 19880206-101 Nuclear Dawn_]. He is considered extremely dangerous and not to be provoked nor engaged without PRT or Protectorate command authorization.

His run as a villain was from 03 January 1988 to 10 October 1994, before he vanished and with the members of Nuclear Dawn going their own way. It was presumed that someone had taken out Atomic Skull. He resurfaced on as part of the defense in the Behemoth attack on Brockton Bay on 18 June 1995. He has, since then, shown up at Behemoth attack sites to help with the clean up.

At present, Atomic Skull is considered an inactive villain who has retired and not to be provoked if his identity is discovered nor engaged by PRT agents or Protectorate capes without PRT or Protectorate command authorization.

His powers stems from his breaker state consisting of his body transforming into a highly energized radioactive plasma. While transformed, he is able to shoot microwaves and plasma as beams, along with saturating the environment with radiation. He has also demonstrated the ability to siphon and absorb ambient radiation in an area to aid in his recovery [see _case file # 19950618-XXX Behemoth Brockton Bay_].


	10. Chapter 10

**[X] Take to the defensive, let the power show just enough that Taylor can see we're a cape, and politely ask Taylor if her power interacts with radiation in any unusual ways.  
-[X] "Actually, are your subordinates more vulnerable to radiation than Behemoth? I wouldn't want them to become collateral damage while I'm blocking your attacks."  
-[X] "...Okay, I wouldn't mind it if Matthew came down with testicular cancer."**  
Event roll 96.  
Danny roll is 17.  
Someone Else roll is 93.

.

* * *

.

It has been a long time since you had to actually fight. In fact, the last time you had to actually fight was fifteen years ago when Taylor was born.

Back then, you were fighting to keep Annette and Taylor safe in the hospital.

That was then.

In the here and now, you were fighting against your daughter. While you were tempted to play it defensively... you found yourself unable to do so. She was simply too aggressive for you to play it safe and not harm her.

You don't even get a chance to speak after her second attack involved a face full of plasma. Specifically YOUR face being full of plasma that she shot at you from her fist in a punch that didn't touch you physically as you moved just so to avoid said punch.

There was a moment of shocked surprise on both your parts as your skin cracked and disintegrated in sapphire tinted white flames and electricity, allowing your green white glow to burn free and shine against the blue white plasma radiance of her body.

"Actually, are your subordinates more vulnerable to radiation than Behemoth? I wouldn't want them to become collateral damage while I'm blocking your attacks." You smirked at Taylor's look of surprise. "... Okay, I wouldn't mind it if Matthew came down with testicular cancer."

Your words got a scream of rage from her, as she transitioned from surprise to anger.

Which really invited a punch from you to her gut, folding her nearly in half as your relative plasma states interacted as if they were normal flesh and blood instead of highly energized plasma. There was a brief pause as she flew from your fist backwards before landing on a three point stance in a blaze of electricity.

True, she wasn't radioactive like you were, and the electricity from her hurt your hand in a way that few things did, but you still could interact with her. It was also clear to both you and her that you had the physical advantage alongside the experience to press it. Her retaliation was a not quite gagged shout as she wiped her mouth and spat plasma to the side. "Scram! Three to go!"

"This isn't over, Dad." The vitriol in her voice was a clear indicator of how badly you messed up with Taylor with your words.

"You got it, Juicy Jolts. Erm... Boss." Before you could take a step towards Taylor, she was gone in a distortion of blue white lines. Looking about, you could see a distinct lack of capes beyond yourself and Grace even if their car was still there. Still burning from where Taylor had emerged.

Still, it wouldn't do to not clean up after yourself.

You breathed in and reached out to leech the radiation around you into your body before transforming back. You turned to look at where Grace was powering down her shield after removing her mask. The blocky amber defensive field seemed to be a 'little' hold out that she had picked up after she met you.

"I'm sorry about the date," you could only sigh as she hugged you.

"Hey, it's okay. just let it out."


	11. Chapter 11

**[X] Go back to Grace's home with her.**

While you were tempted to chase after Taylor, oh how you were tempted to do so. You couldn't... she was far too much like you. Hence chasing after her... it wouldn't do much beyond result in another fight.

She was angry at you, at Grace... and likely at a good number of things. And when she was that riled up, words wouldn't help... in fact, confronting her at this point would simply exacerbate the situation as Annette would say.

After all, you had been in her shoes before when you were a teen, and you knew what it was like to be just that angry at everything.

Which was why you memorized the license plate of your daughter's car before incinerating it to molten slag with 'clean' plasma before driving off with Grace.

Clearly, the after dinner date was simply ruined. There is a drawn out moment of silence as you drove her back home.

.

* * *

.

As you stood at the door to her home, you had to sigh. "I... I'm really sorry, Grace. It wasn't suppose to be like this."

"Hey... it's fine. Things... things happen," Grace seemed to be okay with what happened. "Besides, I thought something would go wrong. I just didn't expect it to be... like..."

"Yeah," you had to shake your head before looking down at the way she tried to avoid mentioning Taylor.

"Do you want to come in for a cup of tea?" There was a warm smile on Grace's face.

"That." You had to blink before smiling back at her and nodding. "That sounds good."

And really, it did. After all, it might be best if you stayed away from your home for a bit and allowed Taylor to... return and decide if she wanted to stay or... run off. How things would go was in her hands now.

Before you know it, things had progressed unexpectedly fast in Grace's home and you find yourself nursing a rather mellow asian tea that was almost vegetal in flavor, the aroma was sweet and carried more than a hint of freshness. The color was more pale gold green than true green green.

With your eyes close, you find yourself just savoring the scent. Images of spring, of mountains filled with long grass that you could run in, filled your mind. "This... this is good."

"It is, isn't it?" There is a hint of a smile in Grace's voice. You couldn't quite see her enjoying tea like this, and yet... here you were.

Still, you found yourself relaxing as you savored the tea that Grace had prepared. She had called it sencha or something, what it was called, it was good.


	12. Chapter 12

**[X] Stay the night at Grace's place since she invited you to do so?**

The night might be a little bit nippy, you muse to yourself from where you sat on recliner on the roof deck. You find yourself breathing in deeply the smoke from Grace's cigarette in between sips of your can of beer. The brew is stronger than what you normally drink...

But tonight calls for something take the edge of your anger off. And you didn't want to go home, because you suspected that Taylor would go home to pick her stuff up. At least you would if you were in her shoes. And you would rather not have to deal with your father if there had been words exchanged like you did with Taylor.

"You can't keep sulking, Danny..." There is a sigh from Grace as she slowly nursed her cigarette. "Taylor is a big girl. You have to learn to let her go."

"But I don't want to." You eventually replied after finishing off the can of beer and reached for another can from the table between you and Grace. "She's my little princess, even if she's pissing me off at the moment."

"All little girls are that to their dads," She shook her head. "And trust me, that girl of yours is pretty angry at the moment. You have to let her be."

"I know, which is why I'm here with you... but, I don't want to." You sip at your warm beer, you really needed to calm down and stop irradiating your beer. "Thanks for letting me stay the night."

"I don't mind, beside," She smiled. "It's partly my fault."

"No, I blame Alan's daughter," You said with a frown. Taylor had been getting distant from you ever since she had stopped being friends with Emma, or was that the other way around. You had noticed that black girl hanging out around Emma when you dropped Taylor off at school. It was possible that high school drama had driven your baby princess to the Merchants.

And so, the night grew late as you drank yourself into a stupor.

You woke up in an unfamiliar bed, surrounded by the scent of cigarette smoke, beer, and... that fragrance you had learned to associate with that mysterious creature known simply as woman.

The bed appeared to have been slept in, at least it looked like you weren't the only one who had slept there...


End file.
